Chevrolet Tahoe / Suburban vs. Dodge Durango MPG

Unlike other fuel economy surveys, TrueDelta's Real-World Gas Mileage Survey includes questions about how and
where a car was driven. So you can get an idea of the Chevrolet Tahoe / Suburban and Dodge Durango's
where a car was driven. So you can get an idea of their
real-world MPG based on how and where you drive a car.

You didn't expect to see fuel economy among the reasons to buy a Tahoe, did you? Of course, fuel economy remains well below that for most smaller, lighter vehicles. But General Motors has substantially improved the SUV's efficiency by adding variable valve timing, direct injection (fuel is injected under high pressure directly into the cylinder, rather than into the manifold), and cylinder deactivation to the 5.3-liter V8. EPA ratings improved from 15 city, 21 highway to 16/23 with 2WD and 16/22 with 4WD. I observed averages as high as 21 in the suburbs and 26 on the highway, quite impressive for an 80-inch-wide, 74-inch-tall, three-ton vehicle. Transitions between V4 and V8 operation are not perceptible, with the engine usually in the former mode when not accelerating, even at highway speeds.
Ford took a different approach to improving fuel economy, replacing its 5.4-liter V8 with a turbocharged 3.5-liter V6. The resulting EPA ratings of 15 mpg city and 20 mpg highway are better than before, but aren't as good as the Tahoe's. My trip computer averages were similarly two to three mpg shy of those observed in the Tahoe.
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What Our Members Are Saying about the Real Gas Mileage of the Chevrolet Tahoe / Suburban

I don't really have any complaints about this vehicle for our uses. But many people do buy them and don't use them for their intended purposes, and then complain about paying for gas. Well, it is a truck, after all.
see full Chevrolet Tahoe / Suburban review

Fuel economy is not great, but it's not horrible either. Again, this is a full size SUV on a truck platform. How much can anyone truly complain when you know this going in?
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At $4 a gallon and a 32 gallon gas tank, you feel it every time you fill up and if you drive a lot in the city, at 15 mpg, you will fill up often. The vehicle actually garners a respectable 21 mpg on the highway.
see full Chevrolet Tahoe / Suburban review

TrueDelta Reviews the Real Gas Mileage of the Dodge Durango

Dodge Durango Real Gas Mileage: Cons

Year

Comment

2006

The new-for-2014 eight-speed automatic does its best to wring competitive fuel economy out of the 3.6-liter V6, but the Durango AWD's curb weight, at 5,000 pounds about 600 more than the Pathfinder's, poses an apparently insurmountable handicap. The 2014 Dodge's EPA ratings of 17 mpg city, 24 mpg highway are higher than the 2013's, but only by a single mpg. The Pathfinder, with its lower curb weight and efficiency-boosting continuously variable transmission (CVT), manages 19/25.
In my real-world testing the Nissan's advantage seemed at least as large as the EPA ratings suggest. In the suburbs the Dodge's trip computer usually reported averages in the high teens, while the Nissan's reported averages in the low-to-mid 20s. The best suburban average I observed in the Durango was not quite 21, compared to the Nissan's 26. In the Dodge's defense, I tested it in unusually cold weather, so the apples-to-apples difference might be closer to the 12 percent suggested by the EPA city ratings.
The Nissan's CVT isn't nearly as much an advantage and the Dodge's extra pounds aren't as much a disadvantage in highway cruising, so I'm not surprised that their EPA highway numbers are closer.
It's worth nothing that, while it can't match the Pathfinder, the Durango V6's ratings are much better than the 14/22 of the optional "Hemi" V8. You won't find better numbers in a conventional SUV of this size without the assistance of a diesel engine (offered in the Jeep).
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What Our Members Are Saying about the Real Gas Mileage of the Dodge Durango

Mileage is actually pretty good for an 8 person hauler, but compared to our old 5 passenger SUV we are giving up 2-3 MPG. Will know more after a couple more fill-ups for sure.
see full Dodge Durango review